Son of famed sex researcher William H. Masters arrested for waving his Johnson at undercover sheriff’s officers

A pioneering sex researcher’s son who was cited for masturbating in New York’s Central Park earlier this year was arrested in a rural Michigan sting operation for allegedly exposing himself to two female undercover investigators.

A completely nude William H. Masters III yelled for the attention of the two female kayakers on Saturday, then made obscene gestures from the bank of the Pinnebog River, Huron County Sheriff Kelly Hanson said.

The women were a sheriff’s deputy and her assistant, who were taking part in a sting operation after a recent spate of similar incidents in the area.

Masters, the 60-year-old son of the late Dr. William H. Masters, who was one half of the famed sex research team of Masters and Johnson, was arrested with the help of a Michigan conservation officer.

Hanson said Wednesday that the sheriff’s office has investigated four indecent exposure incidents in the area during the past two weeks, but added: “This has been going on for years.”

The sheriff said “there are certainly similarities that we’re looking into” between the case involving Masters and past incidents of indecent exposure in the Port Crescent State Park area, such as “this time of the year, that stretch of the river.”

Masters, whose primary residence is in Southampton, N.Y., is charged with aggravated indecent exposure, a misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in jail and a $2,000 fine. He wasn’t represented by an attorney during an initial court appearance on Tuesday. Neither he nor his wife returned phone messages from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Masters was arrested May 9 in New York City after a police officer reported seeing him expose his genitals and masturbate in Central Park. Court records show he was ordered to perform two days of community service under an agreement with prosecutors, who say the Michigan arrest might affect the New York case.

Masters’ home in Michigan is in Pointe Aux Barques Township, which Hanson described as an older community where several wealthy families from around the U.S. own property.